The present invention is directed to high speed trains. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a tilting mechanism which forms the interface between the train carriage and compartment, and allows the compartment to move in an arcuate fashion.
The necessity for providing a tilting mechanism for high-speed trains is well known. In order to service the ever-growing demands of the commuting population, railway operators are increasingly turning to the use of high speed trains to reduce running times. This is a particularly attractive option as these high speed trains are adaptable for use on existing rail lines, which avoids the costly alternative of building dedicated high speed train lines. However, existing lines are replete with bends and curves that bear high radii, which are suitable for slower speed trains, but pose a serious detriment to their high speed counterparts due to the increased discomfort felt by passengers when these high radius curves are taken at greater speeds. This discomfort is the result of turning forces, comprised basically of gravity and a centrifugal force, whose vector combination produces a resultant force, which translates in passenger terms, to the passenger being pushed into the seat and to the side. Furthermore, this discomfort is compounded by the psychological anxiety caused by these turning forces. It is a normal human reaction upon feeling such forces, especially in significant amounts, to fear that the rail car will be thrown off the track as a result of taking a curve at a high speed. This is an unsubstantiated fear, as the force required to lift the train off the tracks would be many times that experienced at operating speeds, nevertheless, this psychological anxiety must be taken into account when dealing with high speed trains.
Tilting trains assuage these discomforts and anxieties by tilting the passenger compartment unit of the train so that the resultant forces felt by the passenger, are aligned with the gravitational force normally felt. In other words, the resultant forces become only a stronger gravitational force, thereby causing the passenger to just feel pulled down into the seat when the train takes a curve at a high speed, which causes much less anxiety and discomfort.
Previous tilting mechanisms employed massive pivoting truniouns and resulted in unfavorable load concentrations. Furthermore, previous mechanisms shifted the weight of the compartment toward the outer rail of the curve, rather than the inner rail, thus greatly decreasing the stability of both the compartment and the carriage with respect to the rails. Prior art mechanisms have also used an elevated pivot located on the centerline of the carriage, which results in the train being supported at a greater, and therefore more unstable, height. Thus, there exists a need for a tilting mechanism for use in high speed trains that resolves the aforementioned issues and increases the overall stability of a train taking high radii curves at a greater speed.
The present invention is directed to an arcuate tilting mechanism for use with a vehicle having a passenger compartment and a carriage traveling on a track where the mechanism comprises an arcuate roller gear divider mounted on the underside of the passenger compartment. An outer carriage roller track is mounted on the upper side of the carriage, so that the arcuate roller gear divider and the outer carriage roller track are in juxtaposed arcuate relation. A first set of roller gears is provided which engage the arcuate roller gear divider and the outer carriage roller track so that when the vehicle enters a turn, the passenger compartment can be angled into the radius of the turn, where the carriage remains parallel to the track.